New York Botanical Garden: Thomas Rainer

A WILDER WORLD: THE PLANTS AND PLACES THAT INSPIRED LAURA INGALLS WILDER

11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Marta McDowell in conversation with Thomas Rainer

The inspiration for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books was born from a life lived in partnership with the land, on homesteads she and her family settled across the Midwest. Through her writing and her deep connection to the natural world she captured the vast changes to the American landscape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Come explore the natural history of Wilder’s American frontier and its relevance to “post-wild” design, horticulture, agriculture, and preservation today.

Marta McDowell is the author of The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books, and Horticulture and Landscape Design instructor at NYBG.

Thomas Rainer is a landscape architect, teacher, and co-author of Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes.